How to become a ‘tax helper’ for friends or family

2 years ago

When friends or family members need a hand managing their tax affairs, you can help! Online Government services now allow you to register as a ‘trusted helper’ and in this article we show you how to get the ball rolling, as well as guiding you through the basic procedure.

Registering online as a ‘trusted helper’ for a friend or relative

Sometimes, we only ‘get by with a little help from my friends’ and that includes tax matters! CitizenSafe provides the gateway to register online with GOV.UK Verify, allowing you to act as ‘trusted helper’ for friends and relatives. You can help them in various ways, such as:

Confirming that their Income Tax assessment is correct

Updating or checking their personal tax account

Claiming their tax refund

Checking their company car tax

Below we’ve provided a step-by-step guide for setting yourself up as a ‘trusted helper’ for your family or friends.

Step by step guide:

Step 1: Verify your identity with CitizenSafe

You can become a ‘trusted helper’ for up to five different people, but you’ll need to verify your identity online first with GOV.UK Verify and CitizenSafe. This can be done by clicking the link below to the GOV.UK Verify website:

Don’t worry - all you’ll need to do is provide GOV.UK Verify with some information about yourself. It’s a secure service that helps you prove your identity to GOV.UK.

You’ll need to answer a few, short questions before being asked to verify your identity with a certified company. Select CitizenSafe, complete the rest of the form, and then we’ll quickly do some background checks to ensure you are who you say you are. Once you’ve completed the verification process with CitizenSafe, you won’t have to complete it with us again.

From there, you’re free to register online as a ‘trusted helper’ for your friends and relatives.

Step 2: Register the person you’re helping

Once you’ve verified your identity, you should continue to follow the on screen instructions for each person you’re helping with their tax affairs.

You’ll need the following details of any individuals you’re helping:

First name and surname

Date of birth

National Insurance number

Step 3: Accept the registration

Anyone you’re helping will also need to verify his or her identity with CitizenSafe and GOV.UK Verify if they haven’t done so already. They’ll then need to sign in to their account and accept your request to become a ‘trusted helper’.

If they can’t do this themselves online, you may be able to call HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) on their behalf to talk about any tax issue, but they will also need to be present every time you call HMRC - so we would recommend carrying out this process online wherever possible, since it’s likely to save you a lot of time and hassle as well as allowing you to manage their tax affairs from your own screen.

Please don’t forget that while you might be helping someone with his or her tax affairs, they’re still responsible for their own taxes - it's best to make sure that they keep this in mind.